Identifying the correct defendant in clinical negligence claims

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
Produced in partnership with Sarah Fraser Butlin of Cloisters
Practice notes

Identifying the correct defendant in clinical negligence claims

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Produced in partnership with Sarah Fraser Butlin of Cloisters

Practice notes
imgtext

The National Health Service (NHS)

England and Wales have a publicly funded health system. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) controls the provision and the government pays for it from tax and National Insurance collected centrally. The health care is free to residents of England and Wales. Some charges are levied in politically less sensitive areas such as dentistry and eye care. The National Health Service Act 2006 (NHSA 2006) consolidates previous legislation relating to the NHS and the provision of healthcare.

Historical reorganisation of the NHS

NHS England leads the National Health Service (NHS) in England. It sets the priorities and direction of the NHS and shares out billions of pounds in funds and holds organisations to account for spending this money for patients and for the tax payer. NHS England is also under a duty to protect and promote patients’ interests with the transfer of the functions of the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA).

Health and Social Care Act 2012

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (HSCA 2012)

Sarah Fraser Butlin
Sarah Fraser Butlin

Cloisters

Sarah is an experienced Clinical Negligence barrister dealing with the full range of matters, including acting as a junior in several birth accident claims. Sarah has a particular interest in the intersection between clinical negligence and human rights claims and has been involved in several successful claims involving Article 2 and 8 rights. She has written extensively and is currently a sub-editor of Kemp and Kemp. In addition to her clinical negligence practice, Sarah is an employment and discrimination practitioner and is recommended in Chambers and Partners 2014. She is an Affiliated Lecturer in Labour Law at the University of Cambridge.

Read moreRead more
Powered by Lexis+®
Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
Related legal acts:
Key definition:
Defendant definition
What does Defendant mean?

A person against whom a claim is brought.

Read more readmore

Popular documents

Loss of a chance and foreseeability of damage in clinical negligence claims

Loss of a chance and foreseeability of damage in clinical negligence claimsRemoteness and foreseeabilityAn injury resulting from clinical negligence does not automatically mean a claimant will be awarded damages by the court. The tort only results in damages if all elements of it are proven:•duty of

Scotland—the process for applying for sequestration

Scotland—the process for applying for sequestrationSequestration in Scotland is the legal process by which an insolvent debtor’s estate is gathered in, realised and then distributed among their creditors by a trustee appointed for that purpose. The process requires that a formal award of

Financial clean break orders in family proceedings

Financial clean break orders in family proceedingsDuty of the court to consider a clean breakAlthough there is no presumption in favour of there being a financial clean break between parties on divorce, the court is under a duty to consider whether it would be appropriate to exercise its powers so

Brussels I (recast)—domicile (Arts 4 and 63) [Archived]

Brussels I (recast)—domicile (Arts 4 and 63) [Archived]ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained.This Practice Note considers the general rule set out in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012, Brussels I (recast) when determining the relevance of a defendant’s domicile to